Logs

[andy]

Any log experts out there ?....we have just taken our old gas fire out and opened it up for an open fire for logs and coal.

I keep buying logs from the garage....@£4 a sack and they don't last long !!!! So thought it might be nice to use some from work.

So any favoutites ?...what's good for heat ? and what lasts longest ? Plus what to avoid.

Ta muchly

Andy

[farmersboy]

Ash is good Andy,and unlike most wood,it will burn when green,Elm is alright when dead,beware some Firs as they can spit sparks out and burn your carpets,Apple can give out a nice scent

[oldmoleskins]

All FB's as above, Andy - plus oak. Oak is reassuringly heavy in the hand, and it seems heavy = dense = long-burn and good heat. What you're trying to emulate is coal.

I was able to buy a big fallen ash for a bottle of scotch, and can fully endorse the 'burns green' thing, and it splits really easily.

OM.


ps, suddenly struck me... "from work"... laurel. Laurel is nicely dense, easy size to handle, good burn after seasoning. Maybe there's some oversize ones at work that just need to be reduced...

[Amo]

Congrats on giving your home a heart! Don't forget though that coal likes it drafty with a grate underneath and wood like to snuggle up on a solid bed usually of yesterdays ash.

PS, you could have the logs delivered. We have a large tipper truck bring ours for £85 a load. Sounds a lot but works out a lot cheaper than £4 a bag. If you have somewhere to have it tipped that is.


Logs to burn! Logs to burn!
Logs to save the coal a turn!
Here’s a word to make you wise
When you hear the woodsman’s cries.

Beech wood fires burn bright and clear,
Hornbeam blazes too’
If the logs are kept a year
To season through and through.

Oak logs will warm you well
If they are old and dry.
Larch logs of the pine smell
But the sparks will fly.

Pine is good and so is Yew
For warmth through winter days,
But poplar and the willow too
Take long to dry or blaze.

Birch logs will burn to fast,
Alder scarce at all,
Chestnut logs are good to last
If cut in the fall

Holly logs will burn like wax –
You should burn them green.
Elm logs like a smouldering flax,
No flames to be seen.

Pear logs and Apple logs
They will scent a room,
Cheery logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers in bloom.

But Ash logs all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old,
Buy up all that come your way
They’re worth their weight in Gold!

[Ladygardener]

How lovely Amo, makes me wish I had an open fire Lucky you Andy.

[Tig]

Nice one Andy - nothing beats a natural fire, it seems to invoke times gone by, primeval instincts and lurve

My daughter has a log burner, eucalyptus smells nice in my opinion and grows like crazy so easy to harvest ..

Is this any help?

mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html

x Tig

[carolann]

Great news Andy, we have a multi fuel burner and I dont know how we managed without one they are so much nicer and warmer than gas or electric and cheaper to run. Check in your local papers or Farmer Guardian to see if anyone has logs for sale in your area. You can start collecting logs at work if you can get hold of them, our local council shred all trees which they have felled and put the shreddings on all the public gardens so we dont see very many around here. We are lucky to have a mill down the road and we get all their pallets which we re-cycle but some are only good for burning. We have 2 pallets 6' long by 3' deep and 4' high which are stacked with logs which we cut up at the beginning of last year and we are just starting to burn a few now.
Love the poem Amo, I have never heard that before.

[Chuckles]

We had 2 open fires but put a gas log burner type in one and a gas fire with coals in the other

We used to get our own logs from the woods when OH was gamekeeper, great fun but hard work. We mainly burnt Ash. Thats a great poem Amo.

I'm green with envy Andy

[andy]

Thanks everyone...most useful.

Well despite ripping my old fire out, i had nothing to put in its place to burn logs and coal until the fireplace is built. So i bought my small wrought iron chimenea in. The chimney goes perfectly up the chimney and the burning area is just ideal.

Hopefully a new fireplace will be built in the next few weeks and a purpose built log basket will be installed

;D